As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system (IHS). An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the magnitude of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Components of the IHS may consume electrical power and output most of it as heat power. Heat within an IHS may degrade or reduce the reliability of certain IHS components. An IHS may include a fan or plurality of fans, such as a fan system, to address the cooling requirements of the system.
IHS fans may be coupled to the IHS via connectors located within the IHS housing itself. Fans may serve the purpose of cooling the overall system or housing, or may serve to cool particular IHS components, such as for example, the central processing unit (CPU), the power supply unit (PSU), and/or the graphics card. As IHS power consumption has increased, so has the need for fans to remove heat within the IHS. Presently, many IHSs contain a plurality of fans. For example, a network server IHS may contain 6 or more fans to address various cooling needs. It is not uncommon to have multiple fans addressing particular components of the IHS. For example, an IHS may contain 4 or 6 fans, to cool the CPU, and 2 fans to cool the PSU.
The use of multiple fans may meet an IHS's cooling requirements, but negative consequences may result from the use of the fans. Airborne, or acoustical, noise, for example, may occur in electronic enclosures where multiple fans operate homogenously (i.e., at the same speed). Fans of similar size and/or blade geometry may interact acoustically to create unwanted noise in an IHS. This may occur whenever two or more fans are operated at the same speed, which can result in a “beating” noise that can be unpleasant for users. Additionally, there may be certain fan speeds that result in a “whistling” noise that can also be unpleasant for users. Other acoustical noise issues may include prominent tones, modulations, or buzzes, as well as sheer magnitude of fan noise.
Current fan control or management methods generally operate fans to optimize thermal performance at the lowest possible fan speed in order to reduce noise. If additional cooling is required, then current fan management methods may “jump” the range of speeds associated with known acoustical noise issues. At the higher speeds, the fans may meet the system's cooling requirements, but at the cost of higher power consumption. Other solutions for acoustical issues include fan isolation, removal of obstructions from airflow path, and/or manufacturing the IHS with differently-designed fans. These solutions pose problems for IHS layout and design. Furthermore, due to continuity of supply, the costs associated with redesigning and altering the manufacturing of the IHS may be extremely high.
Fan usage may further result in vibrations within an IHS. IHS components have become increasingly compact to offer more portable and/or space-efficient products to users. Concurrently, cost pressures on IHS manufacturing have resulted in the incorporation of potentially less robust components within some IHSs. The result has been an undesirable interaction between fan vibrations and IHS components that has impacted IHS function. In some situations, fan vibrations may interfere with the hard drive such that the hard drive cannot function optimally. In extreme cases, fan vibrations may interfere with the hard drive to such a degree that the hard drive goes offline and data is lost. During such an occurrence, fan speed limits may be imposed to prevent fans from entering speed ranges which cause vibrations that are damaging to hard drive function. However, while vibrations may be minimized under the fan speed limitations, component and ambient temperatures within the IHS may remain high at such fan speed ranges and result in less than optimal IHS function.
Conventional fan management methods may provide adequate cooling for an IHS, but generally at the cost of increased power consumption, acoustical issues and/or increased system vibration. These costs may interfere with user experience. In some cases, the cost may be so high that IHS components may not function (e.g., hard drive malfunction) properly. Thus, a need may exist for methods and systems for improving fan speed management while not compromising energy efficiency, acoustics, and component functionality.